If you have been trying to ignore the daily grind of bad news out of California's Capitol, we don't blame you. Watching the state's so-called leaders trying to negotiate a budget is like focusing on the dull pain of a low-grade toothache that you hope might just go away. But now would be a good time to tune in if you can stand it. This thing has turned into a full-blown abscess, and the infection is spreading.

The brinksmanship that was on display as another deadline slipped by at midnight Tuesday demonstrated a new low in California governance, if that's possible. Three bills that nearly everyone in the Capitol agreed should be part of the budget solution failed, worsening the problem lawmakers must solve by several billion dollars. The stalemate also has set the stage for the state to pay some of its bills with IOUs, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered a third monthly furlough day for state workers.

The bills fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage in the state Senate because Republican lawmakers, siding with the governor, demanded that majority Democrats agree to a comprehensive plan to close the state's $24 billion budget shortfall without more taxes.

That's an understandable impulse, and the Democrats are not blameless here. They deliberately put up budgets that they knew the Republicans opposed and the governor had threatened to veto. Then, with time running out, they offered stopgap measures that would have eased the state's cash shortage for a month or two but hardly put a dent in the real imbalance between spending and revenues.

All sides in this battle have legitimate concerns. The Republicans are right to want a comprehensive fix. The Democrats are right to want to save programs that help the poor. That still does not excuse the kind of irresponsible behavior that reigned Tuesday night. This was a game of political chicken. Once the collision happened, however, the injured parties weren't the reckless lawmakers but the people of California.

The biggest consequence of Tuesday's standoff is that lawmakers now must cut an additional $2 billion in the fiscal year that began Wednesday, but they must do so while education spending gains a new level of protection. That means everything else in the budget, including the health and welfare programs Democrats say they want to protect, has suddenly become more vulnerable.

The stalemate will also lead Controller John Chiang to begin paying some of the state's bills with IOUs as soon as today, because he must reserve what little cash is left in the till for education spending and debt service on the state's bonds, which the constitution gives first call on the state's resources. That means other government agencies and private vendors who do business with the state will be getting warrants that can't be redeemed until October. Many will face extreme hardship as a result.

Then there are the state employees. Schwarzenegger has ordered a third unpaid furlough day per month for state workers, the equivalent of a 14 percent pay cut. This is unfair to the employees, who have already been asked to shoulder a disproportionate share of the pain from this budget meltdown. The latest pay cut will drive some of these workers into desperate financial straits, perhaps even bankruptcy and the loss of their homes. This is unconscionable.

Schwarzenegger, the Democrats who control the Legislature and the Republican minority must get back to work immediately and keep working until they solve this problem. No more chicken. No more games. Just get it done.

www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/1994105.html